Mother Runners and VCU race for success on April 2, 2011!
What’s so great about April 2, 2011 in Richmond, Virginia?
Well…….plenty!
Mother Runners and Monument 10k
April 2 is the famous Monument 10K race where the Richmondmoms and Mother Runners will lace up their running shoes and soar down beautiful Monument Avenue. The race kicks off with the kids fun run at 8:00 a.m. and the 10K starts at 8:30 a.m. Many of our moms and grandmoms have trained and worked hard to prepare for this race.
They’ve run in freezing cold, rain, ice, snow and blistering winds through the previous months as they prepared to leave their mark on history.
Congratulations to all of our Mother Runners and Monument 10k participants as they begin their run and reach the finish line.
This year’s race will be a monumental event as it coincides with VCU’s appearance in the Final Four!
Cheering VCU to Victory
What a tremendous victory for VCU and an honor for Richmond to be home to such a successful basketball team with incredible players and inspiring coaching staff. VCU has scheduled game viewing sites for students on Saturday night that include:
- The Siegel Center will host a viewing party for VCU and VCU Health System students, faculty and staff with a valid ID. Doors open at 4:30 p.m. Limited to 3,500 attendees.
- Rodney’s on the first floor of Shafer Court Dining Center will hold a watch party for students only. For two dining plan blocks, students will enjoy a game-day buffet, complete with spirited giveaways and prizes. Tickets are on sale at Market 810-2-Go. Admission is limited to the first 220 guests. Four spirit bags will be raffled off in honor of the Final Four games. Additional watch parties will be held for students in resident halls and the Common Ground at the University Student Commons.
- Chili’s @ VCU also is hosting a watch party. Game day specials, including selected half-price appetizers and $5 burgers, will be available for guests wearing their VCU Gear.
Capital Ale House, many other local restaurants, and local establishments will host game-watching parties on Saturday, as VCU takes on Butler at 6:00 p.m.
Go Richmond!
Support our Mother Runners and all of the great Monument 10K participants, and then enjoy the VCU game and cheer them on to victory too.
Richmond is a great place to live — and especially this coming weekend!
Visit Richmond Bargains website and find out how to save and have fun.
Richmond Bargains definitely knows how to keep grandmoms and moms up-to-date on the latest deals.
Their Facebook page today reminds everyone that you get a free Chik-Fil-A regular chicken sandwich on Friday, March 25 from 11:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. when you wear your VCU Rams or U of R Spiders apparel. You’ll find lots more free or cheap weekend events too.
Bamboo Cafe, LIFT Coffee Shop, and Richmond-area Moe’s Restaurants are also offering free food for VCU and U of R fans.
Be sure and “like” Richmond Bargains on Facebook so you get notified of all the great bargains around town.
Visit Richmond Bargains on Facebook and find out which local restaurants are participating in the free food give-away on March 25 or follow them on Twitter @RVABargains. And while you’re on Facebook, check out all of the great discounts and cheap ways to entertain kids this weekend.
Don’t forget to visit their website so you get even more updates on ways to save money and have fun.
Thanks again Richmond Bargains — we LOVE saving money and having fun!
Win money with the winning "shot"!
Kids can win money just by playing sports!
The High School XTRA Fan Shot of the Week contest is open through May 26, 2011 to everyone in the Richmond area. You can enter your photos weekly by posting them to the Richmond Times Dispatch website. They must be photos taken by the contest entrant (no professional photography).
Simply take photos of your kids in action during high school sporting events to win. Each winner receives a $25 gift card from MARTIN’S and the winning photo is featured in the newspaper.
Best of all, the best photo of the season wins a $250 gift card from MARTIN’S!
Visit this link to see some of the winners so far.
How it works
Here’s how it works:
1. Make sure you’re registered on the Times Dispatch website – it’s FREE , quick and easy.
2. Select your photos to upload to TimesDispatch.com.
3. Complete the photo form and select the “high school sports” category.
4. Select the box that gives permission to use the photo in new content.
To access the Times Dispatch website, click on the link and register or login, and get started. Your son or daughter will be excited to see their photo featured, and they’ll enjoy spending the loot you win by submitting their winning photo.
Children enjoy sports and now they can even win more when you snap creative, energetic and fun snapshots of them in action.
Get clicking!
VT 52 Florida State 51
It’s Friday night and I am dutifully fulfilling my caregiving responsibilities by taking my turn at taking care of my father. I drove the almost 3 hour trip in mostly dismal, gray rain to get here, where my two brothers, two sisters, their families, and my father live.
Caregiving often feels like a thankless job and it is tiring and even embarassing at times. Embarassing for the caregiver and the recipient of care to take care of some of the personal issues involved. But we handle what life deals us in the best way possible and that brings me back home to help care for my aging father. His broken shoulder is somewhat better and his seizures are more controlled, but he still needs constant attention for nearly every move he makes.
After a long and exhausting day, he and I both were very tired tonight. He decided to turn in for bed and watch a little of the Virginia Tech basketball game from his hospital bed.
A sports fan
My father is an avid Virginia Tech fan and has been a sports enthusiast his entire life. He can reel off the names of coaches, players, teams and stats that most people don’t even know exist. In his early days, he was always exuberant and nearly fanatical during any type of football, baseball, or basketball game, or other sporting events. I remember my mother “warning” us each Sunday when we were kids that a game would be on television and we should find something outside to do.
Now, he still enjoys watching games, but not with the same vigor I recall when we were both much younger.
I had left him watching the Virginia Tech and Florida State game for a while, as I cleared away some final dishes and finished up some housekeeping chores. Then, I went in to see if he was ready for me to turn off the TV, and he asked, “Why don’t you sit down and watch the game with me for a minute?”
An unusual request — since he knows I’ve never been much of a sports fan and sometimes I’m not even sure about the rules of the game. But to oblige him, I sat compliantly.
More than a game
We sat in the shadows of his bedroom, chatted and watched the game a while. Before long it became a little more intense as the gap in scoring was narrowed and VT was gaining momentum. It looked like the Hokies would surely lose at first, but a new energy was overtaking them. For a moment it seemed that they would win and the cheerleading spirit of a sports enthusiast took over my father as he became totally engaged and animated about the game.
And for a moment, I saw glimpses of my father when he was younger and when he had always been exuberant and excited about every second of a game. As his enthusiasm grew tonight, so did mine. We were both like over-zealous fans — him kicking his feet against his metal hospital bed and me punching the arms of my chair as if it would make the ball miraculously plop through the net. We yelled at players and high-fived each other at unexpected plays — being careful not to upset his broken shoulder of course!
With less than 3 seconds, the game was now totally intense and the score teetered between a 1 and 2 point spread for the teams. And then, with less than 5 seconds, Florida State had possession of the ball and just as the buzzer sounded – swish – and the 2 pointer appeared to position FS as winner of the game.
Disappointment.
But wait……a review of the play. Maybe the FS player didn’t get the shot off before the buzzer. Intense moments ensued as my father and I sat with knuckles gripped, holding our breath, and shouting our own “official calls” of the winner. And then the final official call came.
The shot was too late and Virginia Tech had won the game!
My father and I both shouted and laughed like we had not done in many years it seemed. I turned to look at him in the bed and for those moments during a college basketball game, I had forgotten how frail and fragile he has become. I had forgotten how sad it is that he no longer is able to care for himself. And I had forgotten that I had left my own husband and family over 160 miles away to come and spend days and nights with my father as his temporary caregiver.
Glimpses of beauty
Life is challenging and even unbearable at times. But there are glimpses of beauty, happiness and joy in every day. Tonight I saw incredible glimpses of all three of these as I sat by my father’s bedside enjoying a basketball game with him. I’m thankful I didn’t allow this moment to go by without taking advantage of it.
These are memories I will cherish forever.
Yes, my father’s favorite college team won tonight….but that’s not the only win I saw tonight. I saw my father winning his battle to live a happy life in spite of his physical ailments - in any and every way possible.
“Thank you Virginia Tech — for giving me and my father a chance to forget about how frail he has become, if only for a short while.”